Hi, Timezone PH!

I'm an avid arcade player that frequently goes to Timezone. The one in Glorietta 4 in particular because I know that it always has the latest games and never fails to impress me with its level of maintenance. Timezone has been my favorite arcade for 13 years until today!


I'd like to however suggest something though, and is actually the main purpose of why am I writing to you guys right now.

As a genre focused mainly for arcade play, rhythm games are a popular type of game that many people actually keep going back to arcades for. Philippines also has its own community of rhythm game players, and it's incredibly sizable. I sometimes participate in their discussions and I frequently see this particular statement: "Magkakaroon kaya ng ******** dito sa atin? Lahat kasi ng ibang kapitbahay nating bansa meron eh..."

I did some more research and found this (http://wiki.bemanistyle.com/wiki/Bemani_Locations_in_the_Philippines) , which is a listing of Bemani games found here in our country. Of course rhythm games aren't only limited to the Bemani series, but this listing alone was enough to bring to light that we are using very outdated machines!

My main comparison is that I've been to arcades in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia recently, and although the arcades there aren't as big as Timezone PH (believe it or not), their emphasis on having updated rhythm games on their arcades can be evidently shown as more than half of the arcade's space is filled up with the latest rhythm games. And it's definitely the right move. Then in my head I was thinking "Why can't we also have a circle/centre here dedicated to rhythm games?"

Analyzing further, I've listed down something I like to call "The Big Stage Games". This is a list of arcade rhythm games that I see are NEVER separated and are almost always present in the arcades I've been to there.

I'll try my best to list the games here from most popular to least popular based from my participation in the rhythm game communities both local and international:

1.) Jubeat -- I would like to call this a revolutionary breakthrough in rhythm games. This is one of the most popular rhythm games that's been spreading lately, I'm surprised that I haven't seen this anywhere yet, especially in Glorietta 4! As for personal preference, I don't actually have the Jubeat hype, but that's because I haven't gotten to try it yet! Jubeat machines in Singapore are ALWAYS filled, even if there are around 12 machines in a certain arcade at a given time, and there are actually people lining up to use them. This is definitely something you should consider, and I'm probably speaking on behalf of a majority of the rhythm game players here in the Philippines. This game isn't my thing, but I'm pretty sure a LOT of PH players would want to get into this!

2.) DJ Max Technika -- you already have a lot of these, so good job.

3.) Dance Dance Revolution -- I'm pretty sure you guys are aware of the international popularity of DDR, and it's nice that you always get the Japan machines (which is always the most superior of any other release, be it a localization or a ripoff); I'm just wondering why I've only seen one X2 machine so far. Nevertheless, you got this one down, so great!

4.) Guitarfreaks and Drummania -- of course these two always go hand-in-hand. From a post I've found in your Facebook page I see that you guys already ordered V8 but it hasn't arrived yet. I'm not actually versed in the world of GFDM, but with how you guys have been placing this everywhere, I can tell you're aware that these are necessities.

5.) Pop'n Music -- if we're talking about personal preferences, this is actually my favorite among all the Bemani rhythm games so far. A lot of its appeal comes from its cartoony design which looks very visually appealing. However, players who did try and dedicate themselves to this game will be in for a surprise; this is actually going alongside beatmaniaIIDX as one of the hardest, and usually entailing the most time-consuming, rhythm game among the many others. It attracts both casual players and hardcore players to get into it. It's surface popularity may not be that evident, but it receives enough merit to be part of this list; I've seen it in every arcade already, actually. In fact, there's still the pop'n music machine at the back section of Glorietta 4. The main problem however is that it's only Pop'n Music 3, and the latest Pop'n Music is actually Pop'n Music 19! (but apparently 19 is Japan exclusive though, so technically 18 is the latest that anyone outside Japan can get) As this is one of the rhythm games I really like, my description for it seems a bit longer than usual, sorry for that. I'd really love it if you would consider putting this again, though.

6.) beatmaniaIIDX -- the father of all rhythm games, still standing strong after all this years. And by 'father', I mean it was the first every rhythm game to receive enough popularity to give existence to the game genre "Rhythm Game". Some people say that one can't truly be a rhythm game player unless they've played IIDX, and they have numerous points to point out why. And from seeing people play IIDX, I must agree; this is probably one of the most definitive rhythm games I've seen, and is still standing strong today. Like mentioned above, IIDX also holds the title of being possibly the hardest rhythm game (within reason) to exist. So it's main audience is actually dedicated rhythm game players, which our country has many of. IIDX is also the reason why Pop'n Music, and every other rhythm game, even came into existence! I haven't actually played IIDX before, but this is actually the next rhythm game I want to try out. The latest IIDX is Beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem.

7.) Taiko no Tatsujin -- out of this list, this is one of the two so far that aren't part of the Bemani franchise. And... this is my favorite rhythm game out of everything else, so my description here may be a bit too long, sorry for that. I may actually have listed this a bit too low in this list; in every arcade I've been to outside of the country, there is always at least THREE Taiko no Tatsujin machines available. In fact, in the most recent arcade I've been to in Singapore, there are actually SIX Taiko machines there, while there were around 10 Jubeat machines and... only 1 of everything else. And although not as filling as Jubeat, I find a sizable number of people still coming to play it. Heck from what I've seen this game might actually be the 3rd most popular right now, being beaten by only Jubeat and DJ Max Technika. Taiko has just celebrated their 10 year anniversary recently, which should say how big it actually is despite the lack of boom in discussions. I am mainly a player of this game, and I always look for this game in every arcade I go to. http://taikotime.blogspot.com/ is a site dedicated to English written news on Taiko no Tatsujin. http://www.wikihouse.com/taiko is a Wiki that concentrates on every detail about the game. It's just too popular that it's actually also seen alongside the rhythm game circle. Like Pop'n Music, Taiko attracts both casual and hardcore players due to its design defying its required level of play. And the playing this game is so simple, it's quick to get attracted to without frustrating yourself to no end. I understand that the most recent Taiko machine that you had didn't sell well; that was because you guys put in a custom software into it, which made it very, very unappealing. Not only that, Taiko no Tatsujin seems to be the machine with the most demanding maintenance, as more people tend to actually destroy the machine rather than play it (due to... lack of intelligence). I'd really be happy if you guys would consider trying this out again. I promise that you'll never see this machine collect dust (because you'll always see me playing it...). Don't let the past local statistics cover the present... This is actually one of the most selling arcade rhythm games in many parts of the world, it's just that PH was never there to see it bloom...

Actually, I think that's pretty much it; other rhythm games unlisted here aren't popular enough for me to list down yet, I guess. I still don't know why I listed Taiko no Tatsujin the last though...

And if you ask about my personal preference? Pop'n Music and Taiko no Tatsujin are the actual games I am dedicated to right now. But as with the many other lacking rhythm games, we never actually get to experience these games in full as home versions are always inferior to the arcade versions.

Trust me, you won't regret giving emphasis to the rhythm game circle. As I've said before, this genre of games is one of the main reasons why arcades still get really good revenue. This can be evidenced from the DDRX2 and DJMax Technika 2 machines in Glorietta 4 (I never see those machines run out of people!). Wouldn't it be nice if there could be more of those moments, just with more variety as well?

And if you guys do decide to get any of these games (hopefully as much as you can!), please always get the Japanese releases and not the localizations or ripoffs; those are a major turn off. And most importantly, maintenance of these machines (which has actually been a major fret of many arcade gamers here in the Philippines: not-fully-functioning machines)

We really hope that you take this suggestion into consideration, as we really think this would be beneficial for both you and your customers.

~Zekira Drake

"Sorry uh, excuse me Ryougen I have to get to somewhere..." she replied, then quickly burst in some direction, dropping the newspaper behind. I picked up the newspaper before it touched the ground and read the article she was reading. Looking at it further, it wasn't actually an article, but some sort of announcement. Looks like some known person is arriving here by 9AM and there's an event at~

...someone bumped into me and ripped the paper off. This person was also running in the same direction Kiluna went.

"Can you PLEASE watch where you're running?!" I shouted. I don't think that particular person heard me as he or she just continued running. Then I noticed a lot of people running in that particular direction too. Whatever is happening, it must be something that this entire town was waiting for...

...wait a minute. I checked the time through the sun's position again... and it's around 9AM. I quickly got the connection here. They're going to that particular event that's depicted in the announcement I just read. Kind of odd how the writers here think of putting the announcement of the event on the day itself and not days prior to it.

I don't want anything to do with this, but since Kiluna ran off in that direction, I might as well go there.